Remember, some are buying to take passive losses against active expenses (that is, planning to lose money on paper), some just don't know the math and don't know they may lose money, and some are buying just for future appreciation.

It appears that the person talking big game was simply a paper collector that had no real decision-making powers and the folks doing the underwriting Are looking for stuff to create a problem where no problem exist. 

Make an excel spreadsheet and show a layout of the property. 

I always caution investors buying from so long distance that numbers on paper are not the same as performance. 

I had to press this issue with my partner (and future wife) until I took pen to paper and showed her why leveraging our cash to buy several properties with 30% down beats buying just 1 property and owning it outright.Depreciation?

Especially when one has an order of eviction from the court or a paper from the government (HuD-Section 8) stating that the tenant must move.  

Except there’s ugly wall paper all over the place.

If your market has been impacted by the credit crunch, you could consider carrying the paper.

If the current bumbling administration keeps running up astronomical debt and paying it off with fiat dollars we will be hit with HYPERinflation, and US dollars will not be worth the paper they are printed on.

I tell Sellers we are in the business of buying properties below market value and I lay out all the advantages for them.